


Aloha

by Ymas



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Related, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-27 07:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17157413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ymas/pseuds/Ymas
Summary: Post episode 3-17 (the Pro-Bowl-Episode).Steve has a bit of a revelation. Slightly alternative ending.Can be read as bromance or pre-slash, whatever your fancy.Please excuse the utterly uninspired title :-)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this little thingy happened, completely unexpectedly, on Christmas Eve afternoon while I was supposed to be making dessert.  
> [delighted](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delighted) and I had been going back and forth about the pros and cons of holiday season (also while I was supposed to be making dessert) and then… uh, yeah. Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am.  
>   
> Well, [delighted](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delighted) , full credit for this one goes to you!  
> Because talking to you isn’t just a lot of fun, it’s also very inspiring! Or so it seems <3

And it’s at this exact moment, standing next to Catherine Rollins on the artificial turf of the Aloha Stadium, watching Danny running down the field, that Steve realizes he would do anything to make this man happy.

Not only to save his life, not only to protect him and his family, no.  
Just to make him happy.  
Anything. Everything. 

He groans, doubling over a little, and Catherine asks if he's okay. And he wants to laugh and ask her if she's kidding because he's not okay, in so many ways he's not, but all he says is "I gotta go see a doctor", as if that isn't where they've just come from.

Danny is hooting and cheering for himself down the field and Steve stands up straight again, so he can see better, and he’s just standing there grinning like a loon, cradling his arm, ignoring the pain stabbing like knives through his shoulder, running scenarios through his mind. Because he can use this. Call in a couple of favors. Tickets, park-games with old football buddies, jerseys, the like.

"Steve...!" Catherine calls, and from the impatience in her voice it’s probably not for the first time but Steve had completely forgotten she's even there.  
"Steve, have you actually just put your arm right back out of its joint?"

She squints at his arm, incredulous, and he laughs, giddy with the joy of watching Danny turning in circles, imaginary crowd going wild over his game-winning touchdown. 

"Maybe. Guess so.", he shrugs with his left shoulder, still smiling, not taking his eyes off Danny. 

"Christ, Steve, are you..."  
"I'm alright" he interrupts quickly, even though, or maybe because, he's pretty sure that sentence would have ended with something a lot closer to 'out of your mind' than 'okay'. 

Danny is jogging up to them now and Steve ignores Catherine’s exasperated hand-gesture.

"Way to go, D!" he shouts instead, uncradling his arm long enough to give Danny a high-five.  
It's left-handed and awkward, but Danny is so hyped up he doesn't even notice. 

They jump up and down and around each other for a bit, bumping imaginary helmets and imaginary shoulder pads and Steve honestly wouldn't be surprised if Danny broke into doing cartwheels right then and there. Hell, if not for his arm, _he_ probably would. 

Catherine shakes her head. A little fond, a little worried, a little upset.  
"Steve, come on. If you guys are done playing around you really need to get back to the hospital."

And Steve is suddenly annoyed, because this is about the happiest, most exuberant he has ever been in his adult life and he's seeing a side of Danny he's never seen before, and it certainly feels like much more than mere 'playing around'.  
Plus, she’s calling Danny's attention to the fact that he's hurt himself again. More. Spoiling their fun.  
Danny's fun. 

True enough, Danny stops his antics immediately, eyeing Steve warily over Catherine's shoulder, frowning at his arm.  
There will be repercussions. Ranting.  
Steve is so not ready. 

But yeah, he’s brought that on himself, might as well just get it over with. 

"Danny is going to drive me, right, Danno?"  
He smiles his most charming smile even if he does fully expect the rant to start right there, or some disparaging comment at the very least, an insult, not that he'd mind, it’s how Danny works, but it will shatter the mood even more, it will, and that’s a pity.

But Danny just watches him, his own smile still lingering, in his eyes, around his mouth.

"Sure", he says and Catherine rolls her eyes.

"I'll be home then", she says pointedly, turning toward the exit.  
"Feel free to join me, whenever you're fixed up. Again.”

"Thank you, Catherine!" Danny calls after her and Steve belatedly remembers who made their little impromptu touchdown celebration possible.  
"Yeah, thank you, Cath!" he parrots meekly.

He turns to look at Danny then and he knows his expression is a little sheepish but he can’t help it. He's not quite sure where to go from here or what to say, and now, with the boisterous moment mostly over, he can’t help but see for himself that it was probably a really stupid idea to throw the ball on a recently reset shoulder. 

But Danny just watches him, smile morphing into a grin.  
He steps closer, puts a very careful arm around Steve's shoulders and slowly spins them in a circle, looking up at the stands.  
"Four seconds to go, 50’000 people in the stands, going insane. Lights are on, all eyes on you. Calling the Play, Snap, into the Pocket, Hail Mary…” he makes a whooshing noise “….caught right before the out line by your favorite Receiver Danny Williams… Baaaaaam.”  
He stops their movement, eyes fixed on the goal line.  
“This might have been yours, babe", he says, quietly. "Ever regret you had to quit?" 

And Steve allows them, allows them to flood him for the briefest moment, the emotions, the What If's. 

What if his mother hadn't faked her death, what if he hadn't been sent away.  
What if he'd continued to play. College stipend. Then maybe, probably, getting drafted.  
Playing the big stadiums on the mainland. Maybe even getting back home for the Pro Bowl, his parents in the stands.  
Or, more likely, ending up injured or a free agent before long, forever hunting for the next contract, forever on the move.  
But never having lost his father.  
Never having met this man. 

"I like where I am now", he says, and it's choking him a little because he has never allowed himself to think that, because what kind of a son would that make him? 

"Me too", Danny whispers close to his ear. "Yeah, me too." 

And Steve isn't sure if he was meant to hear that, so he doesn't react, but his heart flips over once, then resettles, and he knows, just knows, things will never be the same.

_He_ will never be the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Not even two hours after the first time and Danny is back in the hospital’s waiting room.  
It's empty this time and the TV is off. 

It's that quiet time just around change of shifts, routine tasks over, the new rotation settling it, nurses briefing each other in hushed tones, doors left ajar.  
Danny can hear the doctor scolding Steve a few doors down. 

He was just packing up, getting ready to leave for the night, when Danny had shoved Steve through the door, nurse in tow, and he would have laughed at the utterly perplexed look on the man's face if he didn't feel sorry for him. He was probably looking forward to kick back and watch a re-play of the game or something.  
Well, so was Danny. 

Danny can't quite make out the words, but the doctor is getting louder at about the same rate as Steve is getting more subdued and monosyllabic.  
He sighs. What a piece of work, that partner of his.

There's a short, sharp gasp of pain and only minutes later Steve is standing in the doorway.  
Apparently he has lost all of the doctor’s trust, because additionally to being in a sling, his arm is now also securely taped to his side.  
He’s wearing his most charming 'innocent face', the puppy-dog eyes on full display and Danny feels laughter bubbling up unbidden. And this is not his usual reaction to Steve being an idiot, absolutely not, but he's still semi-high from their earlier antics on the field.

It takes a second for Steve to realize he won't be called out, not today, and the genuine, hundred-watt grin that lights up his face is enough to make Danny go weak in the knees. 

And something has shifted.

Danny definitely won't always let him get away with being a reckless idiot, no sir, but something has definitely shifted.

“Come on, Matthew Stafford, let's go", he says, nudging Steve toward the elevators with a hand against the small of his back.

 

\-----------------------------

 

Steve does have the audacity to hold out his left hand for the keys and even though Danny knows it's mostly for show, it startles a laugh out of him.  
Steve looks like he's just won at the Pachinko machines and Danny, flicking a stern index finger at the passenger door as if it was Grace and not his full-grown partner, wonders for how much longer they'll get to ride their high wave.

Not much longer, surely.

“To Catherine's?” Danny asks, reversing out of the parking lot and taking the turn towards her place. 

He keeps his eyes on the road, the answer so clear in his mind he doesn't even realize at first when it doesn’t come. 

Steve clears his throat.  
“Do you think I'll get in trouble if you just take me home?"  
“Will you get…? Yes. No! Don't be stupid, you can barely move your arm, how will you get anything done? Oh, oooh wait, you’re planning on ditching that sling as soon as no one looks, that it? No, no my friend, you’re not going home, definitely not going home!”

“… To yours, then?”

Danny is momentarily stunned into silence.  
Then: "Yes, yes Steven, _that_ might actually get you in trouble, you know. Judging from my empirical knowledge of women and relationships: yes, that might get you in trouble."

"… Yeah?”

"Yes, for Chrissake! That would look like you're avoiding her! Plus I am basically the reason you ended up back in the hospital, she may be a little bit worried, not to mention the fact that you already stood her up once for me today, so it might just be possible that I am not her favorite person at the moment and I don’t think you coming back to mine would actually really help the matter!”

Steve seems to seriously think that over, brow furrowed in concentration.  
“She's not very clingy, you know."

Danny throws his hands in the air and Steve politely reminds him that this is the exact reason why he usually doesn't let him drive.

"I know she's not clingy, Steven. Which is the only reason this relationship of yours is a semblance of working. But there are limits. She accepts the job comes first. Because it’s the same for her. That's pretty big actually. Huge. Not exactly easy to find someone like that. And it’s not that I have talked to her about this or something, but I imagine she expects to come second."

Steve turns his head and gives him a goofy grin.  
“But you are much more fun. And we could watch the Game. I’m sure it’s on replay.”

Danny sputters. “Wha...Steven, are you on drugs? No, seriously, what did they give you? Fun?? I'm not fun! I’m never fun! I'm gonna hand you your ass on a plate if you ever pull a stunt like that again! Fun, he says. I’m gonna show him fun…"

He lets his mouth go on on autopilot but Steve is leaning back against the seat, eyes at half-mast, content smile on his face, and Danny takes the next turn that brings them back to his own apartment. 

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

Back home Danny deposits Steve on the couch, engages in a short argument about control of the remote, mostly for appearances’ sake, before letting Steve have it and heading into the kitchen to find something to eat. 

By the time he's made a couple of sandwiches and heated up some soup from the freezer, Steve has practically become one with the cushions, watching some terrible old quiz show, chuckling at the contestants’ lack of general knowledge and the host’s choice of clothing, or tie, more likely, in equal measure. 

And maybe it really is the meds, or maybe it's the coming down from the adrenaline high, or maybe it's something else completely, but Danny has seldom seen him this mellow, this relaxed, this content.

He'd fully intended to bitch until Steve called Catherine, because she deserves as much, to know he won't come by tonight, to know he's alright. Obviously Steve didn’t even think about that. But looking at him now, completely at ease on Danny’s couch, Danny can't bring himself to disturb the peaceful mood.

So he puts the sandwiches on the couch table, a bowl of soup within Steve's reach on the floor and the other next to the easy chair because Steve takes up the whole couch and this is apparently where Danny is going to spend the evening. Then he grabs his cell from where he left it on top of the coatrack.

He can't quite resist ruffling Steve's hair on the way back to the kitchen, which earns him a rather sappy smile and a wink, but no comment. Huh.

Back in the kitchen he rummages through the cupboards, finds some chips and puts them into a bowl. He stops in the doorway, leaning against the jamb and watches Steve trying to reach the soup without taking his eyes off the screen, giggling, yes, actually genuinely giggling, at a particularly harrowing answer of an elderly lady in pearls and with a dead animal around her shoulders. He would usually scold him for trying to do two things at once, sloshing soup over the rim of the bowl and onto the floor in the process, but not today. 

Today, watching with a fond smile, he just sighs, finds Catherine's number in his cell and dials.

Steve seems to have suddenly clocked on to the fact that the couch only holds one stretched-out NavySeal at a time and is going about rearranging his long limbs so there will be enough space for both of them. Danny wants to tell him to stop, stay where he is, the armchair will work just fine for him, but at that moment, Catherine picks up. 

Danny watches Steve reaching down and putting Danny's soup bowl on the couch table next to his own, grabbing a couple of pillows and the quilt and arranging them just so. Just how Danny likes them. 

Danny distractedly updates Catherine on the situation, all the while watching Steve until he settles back down, oblivious to being watched, all ease and comfort. 

And it's at this exact moment, standing in his own kitchen, Catherine Rollins on the phone and watching Steve get comfortable on Danny’s couch with food Danny made him, that Danny realizes he would do anything to make this man happy. 

Anything. 

Everything.

**Author's Note:**

> So that's it, my first H50-fic! I'm still a little bit surprised :-)  
> All down to [delighted](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delighted) and her encouragement. Thank you!


End file.
